How to use the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998
What this Guide is intended to do
1. This Guide is intended only to help you use the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998 effectively. It is not part of those Regulations and is not intended to take the place of reading them.
What are the Regulations?
2. The Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998 (`the CASRs'), together
with the Civil Aviation Regulations 1988 (`the 1988 Regulations'), are
the detailed legislation of the Commonwealth regarding aviation safety. Both of
those sets of regulations are made under the Civil Aviation Act 1988.
There are also Civil Aviation Orders made under the 1988 Regulations and that
Act.
3. The 1988 Regulations were made in 1988 and have been amended many times
since. They are being progressively reviewed as CASA brings its requirements
into line with international standards and best regulatory practice. Major new
policies are generally incorporated into the CASRs.
4. The intention is that the matter in the 1988 Regulations and the Civil
Aviation Orders will be progressively brought into the CASRs. As part of that
process, the Regulations are to be rewritten in modern, easy to understand
language.
5. Both sets of regulations, and the Orders, are parts of Australian law. They
are delegated legislation, made by the Governor-General (for the
Regulations) or CASA itself (for the Orders) under authority given by the
Commonwealth Parliament. The authority for the Governor-General to make the
Regulations is in section 98 of the Civil Aviation Act 1988, and the
authority for CASA to make the Orders is in subsection 98 (4A) of that Act
and regulation 5 of the 1988 Regulations.
6. The Civil Aviation Act and the 2 sets of Regulations give effect to some of
Australia's obligations under the Convention on International Civil Aviation
(usually called the Chicago Convention) entered into at Chicago on 7 December
1944. The English texts of the Chicago Convention, and several Protocols
amending it, are set out as Schedules to the Commonwealth Air Navigation Act
1920.
7. The Chicago Convention sets up the International Civil Aviation Organization
(ICAO) as the regulatory body for international civil aviation. The Council of
ICAO adopts Annexes (18 so far) to the Chicago Convention setting out
`international standards and recommended practices' (Chicago Convention,
Art. 54 (l)). The Annexes provide the basis for aviation
safety regulation throughout the world. The Annexes vary in length from a few
pages to hundreds of pages, and are not set out in the Air Navigation Act.
8. The Civil Aviation Act, the CASRs and the 1988 Regulations are not the whole
of the Commonwealth legislation regarding aviation. Aspects of aviation other
than safety are regulated under (for example):
* the Air Navigation Act 1920
* the Air Navigation Regulations 1947
* the Air Services Act 1995
* the Air Services Regulations
* the Civil Aviation (Carriers' Liability) Act 1959.
How to read the Regulations
9. From this point on, in this Guide the Regulations means the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998.
How the Regulations are organised
10. First, note that `the Regulations' contains many `regulations' within
it. In other words, Regulations means the whole statutory
document; a regulation is a particular kind of part of it.
11. The Regulations are divided into Parts, each Part dealing
with a particular topic. A Part may be divided into Subparts, and
a Subpart into Divisions. Divisions are divided into
regulations, but a Part or Subpart can also be divided
directly into regulations (that is, a Part need not have
Subparts, and a Subpart need not have Divisions). An
individual regulation may be divided into subregulations, a
subregulation into paragraphs and a paragraph into
subparagraphs. A regulation that is not divided into
subregulations can be directly divided into paragraphs. (For how
these levels of the structure are numbered and referred to, see paragraphs 16
to 24 below.)
12. All these levels of structure are made visible on the printed page by
typographic devices such as variations in type size, bold type and indentation.
This is how it looks in print (Acts look somewhat different but the principles
are the same):
Part 1 Part heading
Subpart 1.A Subpart heading
Division 1.A.1 Division heading
1.000 Regulation headings look like this
1.005 Another regulation heading
13. Incidentally, no other Commonwealth legislation contains Subparts.
Generally, the levels of division are called Part, Division,
Subdivision, and then section or regulation. Occasionally
there is a level above Part called Chapter.
14. The division of the Regulations into Parts basically follows the framework
of the Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) of the USA and Joint Aviation
Requirements (JARs), although some Parts of the Regulations have no equivalent
in either the FARs or JARs. (For more information about the FARs and the JARs,
see below.) The division of a Part into Subparts, Divisions and regulations is
basically a matter of convenience — a Subpart, Division or regulation
must be unified enough in subject-matter to be able to be accurately described
by a reasonably short heading, in much the same way as a chapter or section in
a book.
15. As a rule of thumb, drafters generally do not allow a single subregulation
to be more than 5 or 6 lines long, nor a single regulation to contain more than
6 subregulations.
16. The Parts are numbered with numbers running from 1 to 202 (not
continuously). Subparts are lettered with capital letters preceded by the Part
number and a full stop, and Divisions are numbered, preceded by the Part number
and letter. The sequence of Subpart letters in a Part, or Division numbers in a
Subpart, is not necessarily continuous. Individual regulations are numbered
with a number consisting of the number of the Part they are in followed by a 1,
2 or 3-digit number (for example, 183.100 in Part 183). In
most Parts only every fifth regulation number will be used at first, to allow
later amending regulations to be inserted in a logical sequence. Again, the
sequence of regulation numbers is not necessarily a continuous sequence of
multiples of 5.
17. The conventional numbering formats for subregulations, paragraphs and
subparagraphs are as follows:
* subregulations: numerals in brackets
* paragraphs: lower-case letters in brackets
* subparagraphs: lower-case roman numerals in brackets.
18. A regulation not divided into subregulations is given only a regulation
number and not a subregulation number as well.
19. A provision at any level of subdivision is considered to contain all the
lower-level provisions that occur within it. For example, a reference to `Part
21' includes every provision (Subpart, Division, regulation, paragraph and so
on) in that Part.
20. References to regulations, subregulations, paragraphs and subparagraphs in
the Regulations are in accordance with those conventions. For example, a
reference to another regulation would be in the form `regulation 21.204'. A
reference to a subregulation of that regulation would be in the form
`subregulation 21.204 (2)'. A reference to a paragraph in that
subregulation might be `paragraph 21.204 (2) (b)'.
21. Acts are divided into sections and subsections instead of regulations and
subregulations, but otherwise work in exactly the same way. The number of a
section of an Act is a number without brackets, and the number of a subsection
is enclosed in brackets, as is the number of a subregulation.
22. Some people find confusing the way in which legislative provisions refer to
a series of other provisions — for example, `subregulation
21.204 (3) or (4)' instead of `subregulation 21.204 (3) or
subregulation 21.204 (4)'.
23. The form `subregulation 21.204 (3) or (4)' is the way that
Commonwealth legislation sets out such strings of cross-references. In
Commonwealth practice there are standard ways of writing the references for the
different levels of provision, as described above. For example, a reference
like `(3)' (that is, a numeral in brackets) is always to a subsection or
subregulation, so to translate it you go back to the nearest previous
occurrence of `subsection' or `subregulation'. If that occurrence is
immediately followed by a number without brackets, that number is the
number of another section or regulation that contains the subsection or
subregulation. If there is no section or regulation number, the reference is to
another subsection or subregulation in the same section or regulation. For
example:
| A
reference like:
|
refers
to:
|
|---|---|
| subsection
(3)
|
another
subsection in the same section
|
| subregulation
(3)
|
another
subregulation in the same regulation
|
| or
(3)
|
another
subsection or subregulation in the same section or regulation as was last
mentioned
|
| ,
(4),
|
yet
another subsection or subregulation in the same section or regulation as was
last mentioned
|
| paragraph
(b)
|
another
paragraph in the same subsection or subregulation as the paragraph in which the
reference occurs
|
| or
(b)
|
yet
another paragraph in the same subsection or subregulation as was last mentioned
|
...
and so on. References to different levels of provision are kept
separate — for example, the form `subsection 60 (4) or paragraph
60 (5) (a)' is used rather than `subsection 60 (4) or
(5) (a)'.
24. The gaps between regulations may be filled in later by adding new
regulations. When a new regulation must be added, the drafter tries to put it
into a place where it fits logically. If there is no gap in the numbers for the
new regulation, the new regulation gets the number of the last regulation
before the gap, but with a capital letter added. For example, regulation 21.305
might be followed by regulation 21.305A.
25. Some regulations contain tables. A table in a regulation is numbered the
same as the regulation. Thus, Table 101.250 will be found in regulation
101.250. In the case of there being 2 or more tables in 1 regulation, the
tables would be numbered (say) Table 101.250-1, 101.250-2, 101.250-3, and so
on.
26. Some regulations and other provisions have an Appendix. An appendix is
numbered the same as the provision it belongs to, and follows either the
regulation it belongs to, or (if the appendix belongs to a lower-level
provision) the regulation that contains the lower-level provision. An appendix
is part of the regulation it is connected with.
Use of `and' and `or' between paragraphs etc
27. A regulation or subregulation may contain a series of paragraphs, and a paragraph may contain a series of subparagraphs. The series of paragraphs or subparagraphs will either be preceded by `the following' (or some equivalent expression), or will be joined by and or or to show whether the series is to be read conjunctively or disjunctively. If a conjunction is used, the same conjunction will be either expressed or implied between each paragraph and the one that follows it. That is, the forms:
`(1) This is:
and
`(2) This is:
are legitimate, but the form:
`(2) This is:
is not used because the series is not clearly either conjunctive or
disjunctive.
28. If all the paragraphs or subparagraphs in a series are to be read as
alternatives, the series is preceded by the following or a similar
expression, and no conjunctions are used — for example:
`(1) The alternatives are the following:
29. Up till a few years ago, it was Commonwealth drafting practice to put a conjunction after only the second last paragraph or subparagraph in a series, and that conjunction was read as governing the whole of the series. Many other jurisdictions still follow that rule. However, Commonwealth practice is now to insert the conjunction after every paragraph (except the last). No difference in meaning is intended between, for example:
`(1) This is:
(the older form without or at the end of the first paragraph), and:
`(2) This is:
Definitions and meanings
30. A piece of legislation often includes definitions of terms used within
it. The terms defined are principally the ones that are specific to the
legislation in some way — for example because they have been specially
invented. Ordinary dictionary words are not normally defined; they are assumed
to take their ordinary dictionary meanings. Terms defined in the Act take the
same meanings in the Regulations unless redefined in the Regulations. Legal
terms also are not normally defined; again, they are assumed to have their
ordinary legal meanings.
31. Naturally, the Regulations use many technical terms. A term of which the
meaning is well known within aviation and generally accepted is usually not
defined. If an unfamiliar word or term occurs in the Regulations, it may be
defined in a general dictionary. For example, chord, empennage,
fuselage, and longeron are all defined in the Macquarie
Dictionary.
32. Occasionally a term that is in general use may be defined because the
general meaning of the term is not sufficiently precise. For example, although
everybody knows what `take-off' means, it may be necessary, in a particular
case, to treat taxiing as part of a take-off. It is not certain whether the
ordinary meaning of `take-off' includes taxiing or not. In cases like this
there will be a definition in the Regulations.
33. Definitions may be either in the Dictionary at the end or in the text of
the Parts.
34. A few terms that are used in the Regulations and that are not defined
either in the Regulations or in standard dictionaries are discussed in the Note
on Terms at the end of this Guide.
35. Although the Dictionary is not called a Part of the Regulations, and is not
numbered, it is as much part of the Regulations as any of the numbered
Parts.
36. If a definition that applies throughout the Regulations is in the
Regulations but not in the Dictionary, there is a `signpost' in the Dictionary
to the regulation where the definition is. For example:
37. The standard definitions of aviation terms are those laid down by
ICAO and published by it in International Civil Aviation Vocabulary
(ICAO Document 9713). Generally, terms defined by ICAO are used in the
Regulations with the meaning given by ICAO. There may still be a definition in
the Regulations, but the definition will usually be followed by a note to the
effect that the source of the definition is the ICAO definition. (The ICAO
definition will either be used unchanged, or rewritten in minor ways to be
clearer and easier to read.) Often, where a term defined in the Regulations is
used, there will be a note nearby saying where to look for the definition.
38. See Subpart 1.A for general provisions about interpretation and
definitions.
Offences
39. In Commonwealth legislative usage, offence means conduct
that is prohibited subject to a penalty (either a fine or imprisonment). If the
sanction for conduct is the withdrawal of a privilege (for example,
cancellation of a licence) that conduct is not an offence in this sense.
40. Many offences created by the Regulations are offences of strict liability.
This is given meaning by section 6.1 of the Commonwealth Criminal Code,
which is the Schedule to the Commonwealth Criminal Code Act 1995.
41. The following brief explanation of section 6.1 of the Code is not by any
means the full story. The whole of Chapter 2 (General principles of criminal
responsibility) of the Code should be read if you need a fuller
understanding.
42. For somebody to have committed an offence, he or she must at least have
done (or not done) an act. He or she may also have had to have a particular
mental state about the act — that is, he or she must have done the act
intentionally, recklessly, or negligently. For some offences the mental state
is part of the definition of the offence, as in `wilful murder' —
wilful in this case meaning intentional. In such
cases the prosecution must prove that the accused person both did the act and
had the necessary mental state. For offences of strict liability, however, no
mental state forms part of the definition of the offence, and the prosecution
need not prove that the act was done intentionally, negligently or recklessly,
but only that it was done by the person accused.
43. Strict liability has nothing to do with the seriousness of an
offence — in fact, the less serious an offence is, the more likely it is
to be one of strict liability.
44. Strict liability also does not take away any defences that would otherwise
be available — in fact, before it became necessary to state that an
offence was strict liability, if the defence of `reasonable excuse' was
available for the offence, the courts regarded that fact as an indication that
the offence was intended to be one of strict liability.
45. Strict liability also does not mean that an assertion by the prosecutor is
enough to get the defendant convicted. Strict liability or not, the prosecution
must still put before the court evidence that establishes the defendant's guilt
beyond reasonable doubt.
46. There are also provisions in the Commonwealth Crimes Act 1914
relevant to matters like the legal burden of proof.
47. Fines for offences created by the Regulations are expressed in penalty
units. The amount of the penalty unit is specified in section 4AA of the
Crimes Act 1914. Currently, 1 penalty unit is $110.
How the Parts relate to each other
48. Many of the Parts deal or will deal with particular kinds of aviation
activity — for example, Part 101 will deal with the operation of unmanned
aircraft and rockets and Part 103 will deal with sport and recreational
aviation operations. Each of those Parts is constructed to be as self-contained
as possible, so that if you want to know what rules apply to sport flying you
will find them all together.
49. However, there are other Parts dealing with particular issues such as
aircraft registration or marking. These other parts may or may not apply to
particular kinds of aircraft or a particular activity. For example, an unmanned
aircraft usually does not need to be either registered or marked, so that
neither Part 45 (dealing with marking) nor Part 47 (which deals with
registration) apply to it. If an ancillary part such as Part 45 does not apply
to a particular kind of aircraft or aviation operation, that fact will always
be stated in the particular Part that applies to the aircraft or activity.
50. Most Parts include a regulation headed `Applicability of this Part' that
sets out the activities to which the Part applies.
Notes and this Guide
51. Notes in the text, like this Guide, are not part of the Regulations even though they appear with the text of the Regulations (see regulation 1.007). Like this Guide, notes are intended only to help you use the Regulations. However, if the text of the Regulations is ambiguous or unclear, Commonwealth law allows a Court to use the notes or this Guide to help it work out what the text means. (For more information, see the Commonwealth Acts Interpretation Act 1901, section 15AB.)
Incorporated manuals
52. Many Parts are supported by a Manual of Standards that contains detailed technical material, such as technical specifications and standards. The text of such a Manual is often incorporated in the Regulations by reference. The incorporation will usually be in a definition of `Manual' or `Manual of Standards', and will say something like:
`For this Part (that is, Part of the Regulations) ... Manual of Standards means Part 43 of the document called the Manual of Standards, published by CASA, as in force from time to time'.
Note that for a particular part of the Regulations, only the relevant Part
of the Manual will be incorporated, and that Part is what `Manual' will mean
for that Part of the Regulations.
53. The Manual will be amended from time to time, but the amendments are done
in the same way as amendments to the Regulations themselves (for the procedure,
see paragraph 79 of this Guide).
How to find things in the Regulations
54. The Regulations and the notes contain many cross-references.
Cross-references are always by provision number, and no page number references
are given. This is because, when the text is printed from an on-line service,
there is no way to know what page a provision will appear on. Page numbers will
of course also change as the text is amended.
55. However, the Table of Contents (immediately before this Guide) lists
provisions by number and gives page references. The page numbers in this Table
will always be correct in a copy printed by AusInfo, and should also be correct
in one that has been printed from a fully formatted on-line version.
56. The page headings in a copy printed in any of those ways give the Part
number and Subpart letter, and the Part and Subpart titles, for the text on
that page. The page header on a left-hand page gives the number of the
regulation that starts nearest the top of the page. The page header on a right
hand page gives the number of the regulation that starts nearest the bottom of
the page.
57. Each Part also contains a short table of the Subparts, Divisions and
regulations in the Part. That table is the first regulation in the Part and is
numbered `000'. For example, the table for Part 21 is in regulation 21.000.
The FARs
58. The FARs are the Federal Aviation Regulations, part of the Code of Federal Regulations of the United States of America. The FARs are the exact equivalent, in the context of the United States, of these Regulations. However, there are considerable differences between the legal systems of the United States and Australia, and US analogies and practices must be treated with caution in Australia. Also, the legal drafting style of the Code of Federal Regulations, and of US legislative drafting generally, is markedly different to that of Australia.
The JARs
59. The Joint Aviation Requirements are a package of common aviation
legislation now being developed by the Joint Aviation Authorities. The Joint
Aviation Authorities (JAA) is an associated body of the European Civil Aviation
Conference (ECAC) representing the civil aviation regulatory authorities of a
number of European States who have agreed to cooperate in developing and
implementing common safety regulatory standards and procedures.
60. The JARs do not themselves have the force of law, but may be adopted into
the law of member countries of the ECAC or European Union.
Other things that may be useful
61. CASA publishes a wide range of information about aviation and its role
as regulator of aviation safety. For example, CASA publishes material
supplementary to the Regulations in the form of Advisory Circulars setting out
recommended practices and suggesting ways of effectively meeting the
requirements of the Regulations.
62. CASA does not investigate aviation-related accidents or incidents —
this is the role of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, which is an
operating arm of the Department of Transport and Regional Services. The Bureau
publishes various reports relating to its investigations and material about
aviation safety generally.
63. CASA does, however, investigate (in conjunction with type certificate
holders and registered operators) defects reported to it under the Major Defect
Reporting System. For more information on this system, contact CASA or visit
its web site (for the URL, see paragraph 71 below).
64. Australian airspace is managed by Airservices Australia. Airservices has
powers under the Air Services Act 1995 to make various kinds of
determinations and declarations about the use of airspace, and provides air
traffic control and flight information services.
How to obtain documents mentioned in this Guide or the Regulations
Websites mentioned in this Guide
65. This section gives URLs for a number of websites that may be useful. If you are reading this Guide on line from the SCALEplus or CASA website mentioned below, you may be able to click on any of the embedded URLs in the text to go directly to the associated website. The URLs given were correct when this Guide was prepared, but cannot be guaranteed to remain so.
Sites for other Commonwealth law
66. The Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department maintains a website
called Australian Law Online (http://
www.law.gov.au/)
that includes a database called SCALEplus (http://scaleplu
s.law.gov.au)
from which you can browse, search and download all Commonwealth Acts and
Regulations, and many other statutory instruments. Those services are free. A
number of other service providers also make texts available on line —
some are noted below.
67. Printed official copies of Regulations (both amending regulations and
consolidated up-to-date versions of principal regulations) are available from
AusInfo bookshops and agents or by mail from:
Mail Order Sales
AusInfo
GPO Box 84
CANBERRA ACT 2601.
68. The electronic text of amendments to the Regulations is also available
(normally within 24 hours of being gazetted) from the SCALEplus website
mentioned above. An electronic text, an image of the Regulations as made, and
some additional information are available from another website maintained by
the Attorney-General's Department at http://frli.law.gov.au/.
69. CASA also has an electronic text of the regulations on its website (URL
below, paragraph 71), and sells a consolidated paper version of the
Regulations. The paper version is available by mail from the Airservices
Publication Centre at:
Airservices Australia Publication Centre
Locked Bag 8500
CANBERRA ACT
2601
or
www.airservices.gov.au/publications.
70. All Commonwealth, State and Territory legislation is also available from a
website maintained by the Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII) at
http://www.austlii.edu.au/. This facility is jointly maintained by the
Law Faculties of the University of Technology, Sydney and the University of New
South Wales. The texts can be downloaded free. However, the site is not an
official government site and the texts are not guaranteed to be up to date.
71. CASA itself has a website (http://
www.casa.gov.au)
which contains texts of the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998, the
Civil Aviation Regulations 1988, Civil Aviation Orders and CASA's
Advisory Circulars and Civil Aviation Advisory Publications. All of these
documents can be downloaded free. CASA's website also contains draft texts for
public comment of proposals for amendments to these Regulations, and many other
CASA publications. CASA's mail address and telephone number are:
GPO Box 2005
CANBERRA ACT 2601
Telephone 131 757.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau
72. The ATSB's postal address is:
Australian Transport Safety Bureau
PO Box 967
Civic Square ACT
2608
Australia
Telephone (Australia) 1800 621 372
Facsimile
(Australia) 02 6247 6474.
73. It has a website at
http://www.atsb.gov.au/.
ICAO publications
74. The Chicago Convention itself is available on-line at
http://www.austlii.edu.au/
au/other/dfat/treaties/19570005.html
or from SCALEplus as part of the text of the Air Navigation Act 1920.
The Annexes are not included, but are available from ICAO on paper or CD-ROM or
by on-line subscription.
75. ICAO's home page is http://
www.icao.int/.
There is no ICAO office in Australia. ICAO publications are available from:
ICAO, Document Sales Unit
999 University Street, Montreal, Quebec H3C
5H7
Canada
Telephone: (514) 954-8022
Fax: (514) 954-6769
or
http://www.icao.int/icao/en/sales.htm.
76. ICAO has some documents available free on-line, but these do not include
the Annexes. There is no free on-line source for the Annexes.
FARs
77. The Federal Aviation Regulations are available from a number of on-line sources including the official US Government Printing Office site at http://www.acc ess.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/cfr-table-search.html and from the FAA itself at http://w ww.faa.gov/. Printed copies can be ordered from commercial legal publishers in the USA.
JARs
78. The JAA has a website at http://www.jaa.nl. The Joint Aviation Requirements are available from that site by Internet subscription or on CD-ROM or paper. There is no free download service.
How to seek changes to the Regulations or incorporated documents
79. This section sets out how you can ask CASA for a change to the
Regulations or a Manual incorporated by reference in the Regulations, and what
CASA will do in processing your request. In what follows, the word
`Regulations' is used for the sake of brevity, but the same procedure applies
to changes to an incorporated manual.
80. If you think that a change to the Regulations, a Manual or advisory
information is necessary, you should set out your suggestion in writing, and
send it to CASA's Aviation Safety Standards Division at any of:
Freepost: REPLY PAID 2005
Civil Aviation Safety Authority
CANBERRA ACT
2601; or
email: review@casa.gov.au; or
fax: (freefax) 1 800 653 897;
or deliver it to CASA at:
CASA Building
Corner Barry Drive and Northbourne Avenue
CANBERRA CITY
ACT.
81. Your request should contain:
* your name
* the substance of the change you propose
* your reason for being interested
* a comprehensive justification of the proposal
* any information you have that supports the change.
82. CASA will register your request, acknowledge it, and submit it to an
internal CASA standards review committee for consideration. If that committee
considers that the proposal should be pursued, CASA will submit the proposal to
the Standards Consultative Committee (an industry consultative body). If that
Committee supports the proposal, a CASA project for the proposed change will be
set up.
83. Before taking any legislative action, CASA will consider any comments
received about the subject of your request, and will tell you whether they
propose to go ahead with a legislative change or not, and the reasons for the
decision.
84. The next stage is formulation of the draft legislative proposal and formal
public consultation on it. CASA is required by section 16 of the Civil
Aviation Act 1988 to consult with `government, commercial, industrial,
consumer and other relevant bodies and organisations (including ICAO and bodies
representing the aviation industry)'.
85. The basic procedure for consultation is as follows:
* CASA publishes a notice of its intention to make a rule, and the
availability of the proposed rule, in a national newspaper and on its
website
* the actual rulemaking proposal is released publicly as a Notice of Proposed
Rule Making (NPRM), which sets out the proposed change and
supporting information
* anybody interested has a reasonable time (normally 8 weeks) to comment.
86. The NPRM will include the actual text of the proposed legislative change, as drafted by the Office of Legislative Drafting of the Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department. The NPRM will also include:
* an introductory statement (`Foreword') extending an invitation to comment
on the proposal
* background information, including a description of the problem addressed and
why rule-making is necessary
* the objectives of the proposed rule
* the options that were considered and the constraints making them viable or
not
* an impact analysis setting out the advantages and disadvantages of those
options, and a description of the subjects and issues involved
* a Guide on how to comment (including addresses).
It may also include copies of proposed supporting material such as the
relevant draft Manual of Standards or guidance or advisory material.
87. The notice also gives a date by which comments must be submitted, and where
to send comments. A response sheet is included in the NPRM, and you are urged
to use this sheet in responding to the NPRM. There is also an online response
system at http://www.casa.gov.au/avreg/newrules/casr/onlineform.htm.
88. Requests for extension of time to comment should be sent to CASA no later
than 2 days before the announced expiry time. It may not be possible in a
particular case to allow an extension of time to comment. However, extensions
are normally granted if you have a substantive interest in the proposed rule
and a good reason for the extension. Bear in mind that extending the time for
comment will delay the rule-making process.
89. Anybody can make a comment on a proposed rule. Comments must be in writing
and should preferably be submitted on the response form.
90. CASA will register all comments made. After the time for comments (or any
extension of it) expires, CASA will evaluate all the comments received, and
publish a Summary of Responses (SOR) setting out a summary of the
comments received, CASA's response to them and the action taken. The SOR will
set out CASA's policy, the intended legislative action and the finalised draft
legislation and associated guidance and supporting materials.
91. Finally the Minister for Transport and Regional Services must decide
whether to recommend to the Governor-General that the proposed Regulations be
made. If the Minister approves the proposed change, he or she submits the text
of the proposed legislation to the Governor-General for making as Regulations.
After the proposed Regulations are made, a notice of their making is published
in the Commonwealth Gazette, and copies of the official text are made
available. The Regulations are also tabled in each House of the Parliament
within 15 sitting days after making, and then within a further 15 sitting days
any Member or Senator can move to disallow them.
Note on terms
92. As mentioned above, there are terms used in the Regulations that are well recognised in the aviation industry, but are not standard dictionary words, or that have a meaning that is not obvious from the meanings of the words that make them up. Because nobody who is expert in aviation needs to have such terms explained, there are no definitions of them in the Dictionary. However, some explanations are set out below for convenience.
Avgas means aviation gasoline. Petrol (gasoline) is graded according to volatility and octane rating. Avgas is petrol within the volatility and octane ranges approved for aircraft piston engines. (Some engines are approved to run on `mogas' — that is, ordinary car fuel.) For other terms relating to fuel, see Jet A-1, JP-1 and JP-4.CAS means calibrated airspeed — that is, indicated airspeed corrected for position error and instrument error.
Controlled airspace is airspace in which aircraft are subject to air traffic control. For more details, see the Air Services Regulations and the determinations made by Airservices Australia under regulation 2.04 of those Regulations.
Endorsement (of a licence) is used in connection with some kinds of licences to mean a subsidiary location-specific qualification. For example, an air traffic control licence must be endorsed for a particular location or particular airspace.
Flight level (FL): Altitudes above a certain altitude called the transition altitude (currently 11 000 feet in Australia, possibly different in other countries) are often expressed as flight levels. A flight level is a pressure altitude expressed as a 3-digit number that represents hundreds of feet. For example, FL 290 is equivalent to a pressure altitude of 29 000 feet, and FL 295 is equivalent to a pressure altitude of 29 500 feet. (Note that altitude is not the same as height. Both terms are defined in the Dictionary.)
Jet A-1 is the usual term in Australia for the grade of hydrocarbon fuel approved for use in aircraft turbine engines. It is similar to power kerosene in terms of volatility. (Kerosene-type fuels are not graded by octane number.) In US military usage, a similar fuel is called `JP-1'.
JP-4 is a wide-cut hydrocarbon fuel used as a turbine engine fuel in some parts of the world, but not permitted for aviation use in Australia.
Pressure altitude is the altitude shown by a barometric altimeter on which the pressure subscale is set to 1 013.2 hectopascals. (This is the `sea level' pressure in the International Standard Atmosphere.) Depending on what the actual barometric pressure at sea level is at the time and the actual pressure lapse rate with height, the pressure altitude shown on such an altimeter may or may not be its actual altitude.
Rating means an endorsement on a licence that confers specific privileges, or is evidence of the holder being permitted to do particular things. For example, a person who holds an aircraft maintenance engineer licence may hold 1 or more ratings, such as a rating for a particular aircraft type. Normally a licence must be endorsed with at least 1 rating before the licence actually authorises its holder to do anything.
TAS means true airspeed — that is, the actual speed of an aircraft through the air. It is worked out by correcting the aircraft's indicated airspeed for altitude, temperature, position error and compressibility effects.